UPDATED November 2024
2024 vehicle repairs pricing report
We surveyed 1800 auto repair shops around the country to find out where people pay the most for regular maintenance of their vehicle.
We collected pricing data from 1800 auto repair shops in the top 100 most populous cities in the USA to find out which cities had the best prices for the most common repairs and which were charging drivers.
Most of us have come to terms with the undeniable fact that we’ve got to
We got the prices for three common repairs – oil and filter change, cabin and engine air filter, and wheel alignment.
Lowest average cost for repairs
1. Fort Wayne, IN
Top of our list is Fort Wayne with an average repair cost of just $55, making Fort Wayne the best place to get your car repaired in the country. That’s 37% less than the average of $88 across all cities checked.
2. Irvine, CA
Second place goes to Irvine, California, missing out on top place by just $4. Residents of Irvine pay an average of $59 for the common car repairs we checked.
3. Henderson, NV
In third place is Henderson, Nevada. Residents of Henderson pay an average of $60 for the car repairs tested. That’s less than half that of the most expensive city!
Highest average cost for repairs
98. Portland, OR
Of the 100 cities we checked, Portland came in 98th place, with an average cost for repairs coming to $114. That’s more than double the cost of the same repairs in Fort Wayne.
99. Norfolk, VA
Folks in Norfolk, VA, are paying an average of $120 for the three repair jobs we checked, making Norfolk the second most expensive city in the US for car repairs.
100. Seattle, WA
Seattle is the most expensive city in the country for vehicle maintenance, with an average cost of $121 for the three common repairs we checked. That’s almost 40% more than the country average of $88, and a massive 120% more than the cheapest.
Gas Prices Around the Country
It’s not just repairs that drivers have to contend with, but recent years have seen a surge in gas prices across the country. Like repairs, the price you pay for gas depends a lot on where you live, and over a year this can add up to major savings if you’re in a city with low gas prices.
Best and worst average $/gal
All of the top ten most expensive cities for gas are in California, whilst 7 out of 10 of the cheapest are in Texas. In fact the average cost of the 10 most expensive cities is 58% more than the 10 cheapest, and 33% higher than the average of $3.21 across all 100 most populous cities in the country. This makes driving a far bigger expense for those living in California than for the rest of the country.
Conclusion
There are many expenses in life that we take as a given. Taxes, insurance, gas, and of course vehicle repairs. Even new cars regularly have faults that need a trip to the shop. With an average of 1.88 cars per household in the USA, and 64 percent of adults driving daily, it’s safe to say that at any one time there are a lot of cars in auto repair shops around the country.
Our research shows a huge disparity between the lowest cost cities for vehicle repairs and the highest.
Methodology
We surveyed 1800 auto repair shops around the country to collect pricing data on three common repairs.
Cities: top 100 most populous cities in the USA
- 18 repair shops contacted per city, 6 for each of 3 common repairs.
Repairs:
- Oil and filter change, 2018 Nissan Versa
- Cabin and engine air filter, 2018 Honda Accord
- Wheel alignment, 2018 Ford Focus
- We took the average cost over all repairs for each city since we were testing the same metrics for each one.